Good eats and drinks around Tacoma, Pierce County and South Puget Sound

Tag: I love pie. A lot.

Feb.20th

Pie is on the menu at this Saturday’s Pie Fest in Olympia. Mmmmm. Pie.

Kathy Kinard loves crafting pie by hand. The volunteer with the Olympia Bakers Guild – yes, there is such a thing – has made countless pies for the guild’s annual Pie Fest. This year’s will be held this Saturday Feb. 23 at The Olympia Center.

Every serious pie baker has a ritual and Kinard’s involves a garage sale find.

“I love finding my favorite bowl to mix the flour and salt, cut in the butter, sprinkling ice water over the pea-like crumble, forming a soft dough. I’m never without my reliable ceramic pie plate and bake directly on top of an old garage sale pizza stone,” described Kinard. She always looks forward to hearing the stories behind the pies at Pie Fest.

This year’s pie fest serves many purposes: It raises money and collects food for the Thurston County Food Bank. It’s a place for bakers to convene and share tips for making pie, or have one judged by a panel of bakers who will give awards in three categories (see accompanying information). Pie Fest’s most utilitarian purpose is to feed pie to anyone with $3 or three cans of food to donate. For big spenders, there’s also a pie auction with whole pies for sale, with proceeds going to the food bank. Read more »